


What The Future Holds

by MarieAnne_Cormier



Series: Domestic Life [3]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Because that's how we eventually get to the sap, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Have your dentist on call once you get past all the rest, I mean it, Jaina comforts her brooding wife, Mild Angst, Some soft sappiness because I need to decompress, Sylvanas feels Insecure about things, Warning: It's FULL-ON SAP near the end, they're soft and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-12-26 09:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18280373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarieAnne_Cormier/pseuds/MarieAnne_Cormier
Summary: It is hardly Sylvanas' style to miss a meeting with the other leaders of the Horde without having given notice of it, leaving her wife to head it in her absence. Yet that is precisely what happens, and Jaina's worry that something may be wrong increases when she cannot find the Warchief anywhere in the keep.Sometimes the burdens we bear are so all-consuming that they can make us lose track of everything else, and when the Lord Admiral finds her wife, she must gently entice Sylvanas into confiding in her what is eating at her in order to help soothe those worries.





	What The Future Holds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zellk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zellk/gifts).



> I've had a ridiculously stressful past few weeks, and with real life being crazy, my personal life being crazy, and just so much craziness surrounding me, I needed some softness from these two gays to try and mitigate some of that.
> 
> To Zellk, who is always blessing this fandom with her amazing drawings and through whispering all of the things in Raff's ear. You deserve all of the fruits baskets possible, but I hope this will do as well. :^)
> 
> Special thanks to [Raff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raffinit/pseuds/raffinit), without whom I genuinely would never be able to write anything.

“And that was the last item on our list. Meeting adjourned.”

Jaina bit back a sigh as she slowly watched the leaders of the Horde file out of the room, some still chatting amongst themselves quietly as they went. If anyone had told her four years ago that she would be leading meetings about Horde matters, resolving arguments, and settling trade disputes, she would have ice lanced them repeatedly. Three years ago, she would have snarled and claimed it a trick. Two years ago, she would have been rather suspicious about such a statement. A year ago, she would have wondered if she was suited to doing such a thing.

Now she was just as comfortable taking over for her absent wife in meetings like these as she was calling up water elementals for the children to play with whenever she visited the orphanages of Orgrimmar. She had settled quite well into her life as Consort to the Warchief, and enough time had passed that their peace, while still relatively tentative (decades of conflict and bad blood could not be washed away so easily, after all), was strong enough that people from the two factions had begun growing accustomed to their new accord, and outright fights between members were at an all-time low. Most either settled things through talking and negotiation now, or if the itch to throw some punches was truly too much, challenges to meet at the Brawler’s Guild arena helped to keep things orderly and neat.

They were beginning to well and truly thrive. It was slow going and the scars of war would need a lot more time in order to fully heal, but they were starting to make their way there, and Jaina couldn’t be happier about it all. The thing she had strived for since she was a girl, what all of her efforts had been geared towards since she was twenty-one, had finally been achieved: Peace. A peace that was still in its infancy, a peace that was still fragile and a little tense, a peace with the deck stacked against it, but peace nonetheless, and she was cautiously optimistic about it enduring, about it being able to last, for once, as it had been three years and no major upheavals or problems had happened to make people truly _doubt._

Jaina was much too jaded from decades of having her efforts ruined by something or another to be able to believe wholeheartedly and with the earnestness of her youth, but she was at a point, now, where she wasn’t pessimistic about their chances of making things work. The possibility of having this peace be the one that finally put to rest the differences between Horde and Alliance was one that she could dare bring herself to hope for now, and it was leaps and bounds from where she had been four years prior.

Back then they had been in the middle of the war, both factions neck-deep in blood and atrocities against each other, with hatred blinding them all to the way they were tearing themselves apart at the seams for a pointless conflict that would have eventually destroyed them all.

It was only after the Army of the Light had made an unsanctioned and unapproved raid against Sylvanas and failed impressively in their efforts to eliminate her that peace talks had been broached. Anduin had issued an official apology for the attack, something that had almost given both Genn and Tyrande a conniption when they found out about it ( _”We’re at **war** my King! Why would you need to apologize for any offensive against that wretch?!”_), and Sylvanas had responded by calling for a ceasefire to begin negotiating a treaty that would end the war once and for all. Although the Alliance was initially suspicious, all reports unanimously agreed that it was meant honestly and out of pragmatism more than anything else, so they had agreed to the ceasefire and the negotiations began. 

After almost a year of bickering, threats, finger-pointing, accusations thrown around by basically everyone, and more than a few breaks needed so that the more aggressive parties wouldn’t break out into a brawl in the middle of _peace talks_ , the terms of the treaty had been agreed upon, sealed with a couple of key marriages from prominent figures from both the Horde and Alliance in order to secure the newly-agreed upon peace in a permanent manner. Sylvanas and Jaina had agreed to participate in this and that had been enough to make a few eyebrows rise in surprise, but Liadrin volunteering as well had taken everyone aback. Her declaration of being willing to marry someone from the Alliance to help cement their accord had been met with Valeera Sanguinar emerging from the shadows and smoothly declaring that she’d be the one to wed the Blood Knight Matriarch. 

At the time, Jaina hadn’t understood the reason for such a thing, but she’d later found out (through Lor’themar, no less) that Liadrin and Valeera had been long-time secret lovers. Their respective allegiances, Liadrin’s to the Blood Elves and the Horde, Valeera’s to Anduin and thus implicitly the Alliance, had prevented them from being openly together before but this treaty was the perfect excuse from them to be able to finally make it clear to everyone that they were a couple without having to betray their respective oaths. And since their marriage would also help cement the peace, that was two birds with one dagger. 

The marriages had thus taken place and their peace sealed, with the understanding that if one of the couples were to fail, the world would not immediately be plunged back into war thanks to the other two’s bond. It was an important failsafe, and one that lessened some of the pressure on each individual couple while still emphasizing the importance of making things _work_. 

That was not much of an issue for Valeera and Liadrin, as they had already been in love for years and were more than happy to act as one of the lynchpins upon which Azeroth’s stability rested. They had waited for far longer than they would have liked to be able to proclaim their devotion to one another from the mountaintops, and it was with happiness and an ease that was clearly born from familiarity that they settled into their married life. They had their quarrels and their ups and downs, just like anyone else, but they were mostly happy and doing well. It was obvious to all that they would last for the rest of their lives.

Jaina and Sylvanas’ marriage…hadn’t been quite so smooth, at least in the beginning. The fact that the treaty would need to be sealed in a permanent manner had been addressed very early in the talks, and the idea of a political union as insurance had been cemented almost immediately when the proposal had first been brought up, as had the clause that any couple that wed as part of the agreement would have to spend an allotted amount of time in both Horde _and_ Alliance territory. Jaina had volunteered immediately, even though she held a deep hatred of the Horde and its people, because the only other important person that could be put forth for such a thing was _Anduin,_ given that everyone else in the Alliance leadership was already married or had a mate. As much as she might hate the idea of being married to _anyone_ in the Horde, she would never let Anduin take that burden on himself. He was still a boy and still her nephew; the mantle of High King weighed heavily on his shoulders already, and she would not subject him to such a thing if she would do just fine in his stead. 

What were her freedom and happiness in exchange for a peace that would last and allow the bloodshed to finally stop? This was something that she had fought for the vast majority of her life, and it was _this close_ to becoming a reality. Jaina was hardly a stranger to sacrifice, after all. This was only more of the same.

It was thus with her head held high and a heavy heart that Jaina had agreed to wed Sylvanas Windrunner, in defiance of protests from Katherine and Tandred, Genn’s disbelieving choking, Tyrande’s concern, and the sad looks that Anduin kept giving her when he thought she wasn’t looking. Sylvanas had first surprised her by not saying anything mocking or disrespectful, merely giving her a knowing nod and then turning back to arguing about trade tariffs on Horde goods passing through Ashenvale. She had silently, but pointedly, reminded everyone why they were at the negotiating table in the first place with that, and soon enough everyone settled back into bickering over the finer points of the treaty once again.

Jaina honestly hadn’t expected much to come out of their union, and the pessimistic part of her had been afraid that she and Sylvanas would end up killing each other within the month. Even though she had been one of the first to advocate for the proposed peace talks and their ensuing treaty, there was something in her that had become so jaded from all the betrayal she had endured in her relatively short life, that she had believed there was too much hurt and resentment between the factions for things to ever truly work out. Something insidious and dark and ugly that existed deep within her had whispered that this was all a farce, a sham, and that the Horde was only waiting to regroup and lull them all into a false sense of security so they could strike when everyone least expected it, when the Alliance had their guards down. 

She hadn’t been afraid for herself personally; anything Sylvanas may have attempted to do, she could return tenfold and easily. Her fears had been directed to once again seeing her efforts fail and all of what she’d strived to do fall to pieces, to have worked and toiled and sacrificed…for nothing. And so it was with an impending sense of dread that Jaina had entered her marriage, and though she went through all of the motions perfectly (she had derived a tiny sliver of satisfaction at the surprise in Sylvanas’ eyes when she’d kissed her during the ceremony), she hadn’t quite been able to bring herself to act _happy_ , as her wedding day should have rightfully been. 

Of course, her fears had never materialized, and the cynic in her had been proven surprisingly wrong.

First there had been Sylvanas. Although her new wife was by no means _affectionate_ , she was also not particularly aggravating, disrespectful, callous, or anything else that Jaina had imagined she would be. ‘Polite but distant’ was a good descriptor for the Banshee Queen of those early days, and although Jaina had been incredibly suspicious of the whole thing in the beginning, she’d soon realized that Sylvanas truly meant to try to make things work between them. 

The image of the Warchief that she’d made up in her head before getting to know the woman had not been pretty. Her prejudices and her deep-abiding hatred of the Horde had led her to painting all of its members with the same brush, tarnished by her previous experiences with former leaders, former allies, former _friends_ having turned sour. She had convinced herself that they were all treacherous snakes just waiting to strike, and the one leading them had to be the most dangerous and cunning of them all.

Therefore, it had been a genuine shock when her marriage had ended up being rather…inoffensive. Sylvanas was a mostly accommodating partner, and a very polite one at that. She mostly stayed out of Jaina’s way, and she was a very hard worker, constantly in the thick of things, directing people, organizing supplies, overseeing reconstruction efforts, and many other things. It was this that had first begun to soften Jaina’s regard toward her wife. Seeing the genuine _care_ that the woman had for her people, the way she dedicated herself to the rebuilding ‘round the clock was the first time she began to see more in Sylvanas Windrunner than just the cunning, manipulative, warmongering Banshee she had originally thought the woman to be.

It was something that she could empathize with perfectly, and only one of the many things that Jaina would eventually realize she shared with her wife. It had taken time, a lot of stumbling, mistakes, arguing, some yelling (mostly from Jaina; Sylvanas’ patience was not eternal, but even when angry she hardly yelled), a lot of disagreements, but they had grown slowly closer. Their proximity allowed them to see just how much they had in common, how similar they truly were in the things that mattered, and how their differences complemented each other and made them stronger as a unit rather than weaken them or divide them. 

Jaina was impulsive and hotheaded where Sylvanas was calm and calculating. Jaina was amiable where Sylvanas was blunt and to the point, only playing word games when she felt it would benefit her. Jaina was intuitive where Sylvanas was rational. On paper it seemed like a recipe for disaster, but the reality of it all had turned out to be a rather different story, one in which the fire that burned hotly within Jaina was able to thaw out the icy, brutal pragmatism of Sylvanas’ approach to things, while Sylvanas’ cool thoughtfulness was able to temper and rein in Jaina’s more brash and reckless habits. 

Of course, this extended to their different strengths when it came to their work as well.

While Sylvanas had been busy directing the rebuilding efforts on the field, Jaina had taken to dealing with the paperwork that it all entailed, managing lists, tracking what went where, ensuring that their finances checked out properly and that there were no misappropriations, and preventing bureaucratic mishaps from slowing the whole thing down. It had been the very first time they had worked as a team, unintentionally but perfectly. 

That was the true start of their relationship, the moment in which they both put aside their misgivings, their doubts, and their instinctual wariness of one another and threw themselves fully into their respective duties, working together and with one another instead of simply existing within the same spaces without interacting unless circumstances forced them to. Jaina would seek Sylvanas out and ask about specifics on shipments and resource allocations when the numbers didn’t seem to match what her projections had predicted would be needed, and Sylvanas asked her opinion on how things were progressing and would genuinely listen to Jaina’s suggestions, either enacting them if she agreed with them or pointing out something Jaina may have overlooked and they’d go back to the drawing board.

That icebreaker had been what they needed in order to get them to start seeing the other aspects of each other. After that, they had slowly begun to spend more time together, initially working together on other projects and tentatively beginning to rely more and more on each other for their more involved duties as co-rulers of the realm. It had certainly been disconcerting for Jaina to suddenly find herself being responsible for the well-being of the _Horde_ , but she had never shied away from her duties, and had thrown herself into her work there with the same intensity as she ever had for everything. 

The war’s devastation had left no city untouched, no people with clean hands, and now that the peace had been agreed upon and put into place, the men and women of Azeroth had turned away from their weapons and armour, putting on their building caps instead. Nobody had been exactly _enthused_ with Jaina handling Horde matters in the beginning either, but slowly, so slowly that it could be said that it was at snail’s pace and it would be accurate, it had become the norm.

People’s attitudes could not change in a day, but contrary to the saying, familiarity bred acceptance instead of contempt. The more Jaina kept being a helping hand in the reconstruction efforts, the more they saw her toiling and striving to work together with not only Sylvanas, but also Lor’themar, Baine, Thalyssra, Rhokan, and even Saurfang and Gallywix, to improve things, and the more they saw her handling disputes and disagreements over shifts fairly and efficiently, the more they began to believe that the treaty and marriage wasn’t some kind of ploy from the Alliance to stab them all in the back and finish them off when they weren’t expecting it. Of course, the fact she provided refreshments and food for the workers helped things along, but it was through her strong ethic and dedication that she was able to begin winning people over.

After that, her affable personality had basically done the rest, and it was through this that another mutual understanding was born. Jaina was able to realize that she had been right all along when she had first defended the Horde to Daelin, and that her blind hatred after the destruction of Theramore had been _wrong_. The Horde wasn’t evil. The Horde wasn’t a bunch of soulless minions ready and raring for destruction that needed to be eliminated, as she’d come to believe in the past few years. The Horde was a group of people simply trying to survive, just like everyone else. For their part, the Horde was slowly able to accept that Jaina truly meant well and that they could trust in her, as well as begin making overtures to people from the Alliance.

Slowly, tentatively, they were able to make their way into a place where the peace had lasted for three entire years without breaking, and it continued going strong. It had been hard work, but all of it worth it, in the end. Time would tell whether it would remain so, but there was reason to be hopeful, and that was more than could have been said even four years prior.

Jaina shook herself out of her reminiscing and stood from her chair. Now then, it was time to go find her missing wife.

Jaina was, in fact, rather worried. Sylvanas was not the type to skip out on meetings, and especially not ones that were fairly easy to get through, just a bit on the tedious side. Much as the Warchief may not be fond of paperwork or the less active (and more boring) side of leadership, she took her duties very seriously and with the same aplomb that she had apparently held since her days as Ranger-General. 

So no, Sylvanas missing a meeting, without having informed Jaina or sent a messenger to tell her that she’d be absent and to carry on without her, was a rather abnormal situation and it gnawed at her. The more likely scenario was that some problem or another had gotten her caught up and she’d been so busy dealing with it that she hadn’t found the time to send a runner or someone to deliver the news…but something in Jaina didn’t truly think that was the case. No matter how busy she got, Sylvanas _always_ informed her when she was not going to be able to adhere to their schedule; she was considerate like that.

Jaina spent the next ten minutes Blinking all over the keep, looking for her wife in all of her usual haunts. She was not at the archery range, she was not in the war room, she was not in the gardens, she was not in their rooms (she was a bit disappointed by that), she was not in the dining room, she was _nowhere to be found_ , and the mage was beginning to get both annoyed and a bit scared. 

Well then, since she couldn’t find Sylvanas by herself…

Jaina searched for the magic signature of her friend, humming softly in victory and teleporting to her immediately when she found her.

She landed in the middle of the corridor leading to her rooms and couldn’t help the small smirk that adorned her lips when Anya yelped and jumped lightly.

“ _Belore,_ I _hate it_ when you do that!” Anya grumbled, shaking her head lightly. “At this point, I am convinced you do it on purpose. I’ve never met a mage before _you_ that could mask their portals or teleportation magic before. It’s _unfair._ ” 

It was a truth universally acknowledged within the ranks of the Dark Rangers that their Queen’s Consort was unfair and a cheat. Trying to play hide and seek with a mage that could teleport at will and had the ability to erase the traces of her magic so that the women’s keen Ranger sense wouldn’t detect her as she snuck up on them from behind was the very definition of _annoying_. 

It had gotten even _worse_ when Jaina had finally been able to figure out the ‘differences in the magic signature’ of all of them (whatever that meant), and could transport herself to any of them at will, making it truly a pain in the behind to play with her when Jaina was the seeker. They had ended up banning magic from their games in order to level the playing field ever since Areiel had figured out how the sneaky Consort was doing it, leading to a fair amount of silent pouting on Jaina’s part. 

Anya, of course, insisted on challenging the Lord Admiral every now and then with magic allowed because she insisted that there had to be a way to beat her consistently, oftentimes dragging Velonara and Areiel with her even though none of her so-called plans to best the woman had ever panned out. So far, the score of their games was Jaina: 494, Dark Rangers: 486. _Anya’s_ personal score against Jaina was so far Jaina: 64, Anya: 0. 

Velonara was often tempted to just whack her girlfriend over the head and demand she stop this foolishness, or at least that she stop dragging her into the whole thing, but Anya was so cute when she pouted after another crushing defeat that she reluctantly went along with it all. Not that she’d suffer alone, of course. Areiel was her best friend, and if Velonara had to put up with the nonsense, then as said best friend, so did Areiel. 

Jaina ignored Anya’s complaints and raised an eyebrow at the large bouquet of roses she held in her arms. “And what are those for?”

The Elf blinked and looked down, clearly having completely forgotten what she’d been doing when Jaina had shown up unexpectedly and startled her. She forced herself not to wince and tried to put the roses behind her back. “They’re for my girlfriend…?” Unfortunately for her, her tone came out as much more uncertain than she’d meant for it to be, not that the tactic would have worked even if she’d been more convincing.

The Lord Admiral didn’t say a word. Instead, her eyebrow only raised higher and she crossed her arms, tapping one finger as she waited for a real explanation. They both knew very well that Velonara hated roses, so there was no way the bouquet was meant for her.

“Oh, all right. I was going to spread the petals on your bed. And maybe make a trail that would lead to it,” the Ranger grumbled. “You two need to romance up your bedroom, it almost looks like a second workplace with both your desks being full of paperwork, requests, books, and all that other boring stuff.”

Jaina sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. In any other circumstance she would have found the whole thing amusing, but worry was still gnawing at her, and the fact that _she couldn’t sense Sylvanas_ was making her twitchy. “Anya…fine, do what you like. Just try not to get yourself banished to Northrend again, please? Velonara gets broody when you’re gone for extended periods of time, and then Cyndia and Clea have to try to cheer her up, because Areiel teases her about ‘all of the silent moping’ she does.”

Anya got a dopey smile on her face at that, and it made the beginnings of a smile form on Jaina’s lips. The Dark Rangers were a fun group to spend time with, and she was glad that they had all become her friends. Anya, Velonara, Areiel, Amora, Cyndia, and Clea were those closest to her; the others kept a more respectful distance, but they were still friendly and welcoming, happy to play games with her, drag her off work for drinks on the rare occasion some of them had a day off (they had a system whereupon there were always at least eight of them on duty at all times while the others went to have fun), and assisted her when she needed anything, often taking turns in reminding her to take care of herself. 

At first she’d wondered if Sylvanas had assigned them to do it, and had been thinking about having words with her wife on the subject before Velonara had bluntly told her that it was through their own will that they looked after her because they all _liked her._ Not only was Jaina personable, but she also made the Dark Lady happy, and they were all happy to see the softening in their Queen, to see her a little more relaxed and actually taking breaks now and then instead of working so hard all the time. 

The devotion that the Dark Rangers had for Sylvanas had been extended to Jaina once the women had seen just how much happier and simply _better_ their Queen had become after her marriage to the Lord Admiral. She was less stressed, she smiled more often, she _actually slept_ every now and then, she _took days off_ to spend time with her wife, and overall the entire affair had ended up being a net positive in their books. So they had taken it upon themselves to guard the young Archmage and make sure that she was eating as she should and keeping hydrated, pulling her from her books so she could have a change of pace every once in a while when she had been locked up in her study for too long, and generally doing their best to look after her. 

Adorable as the woman was when mooning over her girlfriend, though, Jaina had other, more pressing, things to attend to. “Anya, do you know where my wife is?”

The Ranger blinked, brought back down to Azeroth by the worry in her friend’s tone. “I haven’t seen her all day. I don’t think _anyone_ has seen her all day, but…” she frowned lightly, “She may be in the North Tower, atop the spire.”

Jaina blinked. “Why would she be there? Has something happened?” _No, no, no, she’s all right, she_ has _to be all right._

“No, no. Not that I am aware of in any case, but she sometimes lingers on high places, and we have orders to not disturb her when she is there unless it’s an emergency.”

 _Because she doesn’t want anyone interrupting her while she broods._ Jaina sighed. She hadn’t checked the roof or the spires because it was highly unlikely Sylvanas would miss receiving status reports from all leaders of the Horde just to mope, especially when there hadn’t been any high stress disputes or problems that had cropped up in recent times.

Then again, there was a first time for everything.

“Thank you, Anya. The roses are lovely. Say hi to Velonara for me!” Jaina breathed out quickly before Blinking to the top of the spires, leaving a puzzled Anya behind. 

_______________________

Sylvanas sat atop the highest point of the keep’s North Tower, both of her legs pressed close to her chest and her chin resting on her knees, her eyes glazed and unseeing as she gazed emptily at the horizon. She had long since lost track of when she had first sat there, so caught up in her own thoughts that she noticed neither the passage of time nor the soft footsteps that approached slowly.

“You completely missed the meeting.”

Her ears swivelled toward the gentle voice, and she gave her wife a small smile as the mage came to sit beside her. She didn’t start or flinch, knowing that there was only one person that could approach her without her noticing while never pinging her danger senses. “Jaina. Did you need something?” 

Jaina pressed herself as close to Sylvanas as she could manage, hugging the woman to herself and allowing her heart to settle down in her chest at having finally found her wife. The cold, dreadful hand of fear relinquished its grip on her and she reassured herself by burying her nose in the crook of her beloved’s neck, breathing in the scent of leather, flowers, and cold steel that was so unique to the Banshee Queen that she would never be able to mistake it for anyone else. The side of her that had far too much experience with loss and death had been concocting all sorts of terrible scenarios that had each made her more panicky than the last. 

It was silly and irrational, but after everything that had gone wrong in the past, she didn’t want to lose Sylvanas as well. Their life together as a real couple had only just begun, and the thought of anything happening to her wife made something squeeze painfully in her chest. 

Sylvanas, however, was hardly privy to her thoughts, and when her keen hearing finally caught up with the world around her and she was able to pick up on how hard Jaina’s heart was beating, she immediately uncurled herself and gathered the Lord Admiral into her arms. “Darling, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Jaina shook her head and relished being held in those strong, gentle arms. She was so used to them by now that she could hardly believe there had been a time where she hadn’t found comfort in their cool surety. “No, everything is fine, or at least I _think_ everything is fine. It’s just that you never miss meetings, but you weren’t there today and you didn’t send a message, so I…” she forced down the hitch in her throat, the sheer _relief_ she felt at seeing Sylvanas unharmed and well catching up with her in full force. “I was worried.”

“Was that today?” Sylvanas wilted, her ears drooping in sadness as she sighed. “I’m sorry, my love. I completely lost track of time. I meant to come here and clear my head before going back down, but…”

“But you fell into your usual habit of sulking and lost yourself in your own thoughts.” Jaina murmured gently, finding her wife’s hand and twining their fingers, a small, happy thrill going through her as Sylvanas gave her a light squeeze in return.

“I do not _sulk_ , wife.” 

“Very well, brooding, then.”

“I do not _brood_ either.” Sylvanas sniffed haughtily, the gentle kiss she placed on Jaina’s forehead a reassurance that she was speaking in jest.

“I happen to think you’re quite dashing while you brood.” The mage murmured against her beloved’s neck, placing tender kisses there. 

Sylvanas hummed softly in contentment and relished in the softness of the moment, melting into their shared embrace as her body began bleeding tension. Jaina was a comfort to her, one that she could never have anticipated she would have, but one that she had found she couldn’t live without now. 

They stayed entwined like that for a few lovely minutes until Jaina spoke again. “What happened, darling? Why did you come up here? You only ever seek out high places when something is troubling you, and I thought things were going well for now.”

Sylvanas stiffened as her mind went back to her previous thoughts. She was not exactly enthused about sharing what had brought her to the tower, but since it had caused her to unintentionally abandon her duties for the day and she’d worried her wife so…

“I…” Where to start?

Jaina pulled away and promptly turned around so her back would face Sylvanas’ front, then pressed herself as close as humanly possible once again, and finally pulled her wife’s arms around her. This was obviously going to be a moment of vulnerability for her lover, and she was well aware of the fact that Sylvanas _hated_ feeling vulnerable, even with her. It was still difficult for the supposedly-unfeeling Banshee to open herself up about her insecurities, about the things that could be used against her, things that could cut deep and much too close to the core of her, and she had trouble facing Jaina when she did so. 

Through trial and error, they’d found that Sylvanas was most comfortable holding onto Jaina without having to meet her eyes when they had moments like these. She still wanted the proximity without having those piercing and all-too-knowing blues boring, even if unintentionally, into her own eyes, so whenever they found themselves like this, Jaina would happily allow Sylvanas to hug her from behind and rest her chin on the top of her head. The action was a soothing one for the Warchief, and she could find refuge in her wife’s hair when she felt too overwhelmed by her emotions, with the soft feel and lovely scent of it allowing her to centre herself again so she could find the strength to continue and finish their conversation.

Sylvanas tightened her grip lightly for a moment in gratefulness and began speaking. “Am I a fool for being afraid that this will not last?”

“What are you afraid will not last?” Jaina answered a question with a question since she was aware that it was her love’s way of approaching the topic slowly.

“This, everything.” Sylvanas bit back a sigh. “Just…you’re right. Things have been going well lately. Perhaps a little _too_ well.” 

Jaina said nothing, instead only giving her wife a tiny nudge with her head and sighing in contentment when she received a responding nuzzle. She would let Sylvanas speak in her own time, right now was a time for listening. 

“The treaty has held for a little over three years now. New trade routes have opened, hostilities have decreased by a dramatic margin, some of our people have begun to tentatively integrate, joint ventures are starting to become more and more commonplace.” Sylvanas shook her head. She was skeptical about some of those, like that newly-opened tavern in Thunder Bluff that served a mixture of Dwarven and Tauren foods and drinks, but by all accounts, it was a delightful and innovative experience. “We no longer walk on eggshells, afraid that any wrong move will throw us back into war.”

The mage made a soft sound of acknowledgement and found one of her wife’s hands, twining their fingers again and giving it a light, encouraging squeeze. 

Sylvanas returned the squeeze and continued. “We haven’t had any major catastrophes drop on us unexpectedly. We are rebuilding, we are doing well. There have been no large-scale threats to take care of, no ancient, world-destroying creatures have appeared to ruin everything we’ve done.” Her body tensed the more she spoke, her ears moving erratically in agitation. “We are in love, and Alleria and I are now on speaking terms. We are even attempting to forge a semblance of the sisterly bond we once shared.” 

She paused for a moment, then finally voiced what had been eating at her all this time. “It just seems as though everything is nice and neat, does it not? So much so that it may as well have a pretty ribbon tied around it to complete the picture. A happy ending after all, in spite of the war and death and destruction that came before it.”

“And after everything that’s happened, you don’t trust that things won’t fall apart.” Jaina finished for her, now understanding what had her wife so anxious. 

“Yes.” The Elf sighed heavily through clenched teeth. “It has been a very long time since things last went well and _stayed_ well for longer than a few months. There is always _something_ and I...” she grimaced and buried her face in her beloved’s hair, taking comfort in the scent of winterberry, sea breeze, and arcane that was so uniquely Jaina’s. “I’m afraid.”

She burrowed even further into Jaina’s hair after her small confession, pulling her wife as close to her as possible and forcing herself to mind her strength, the hand that wasn’t being held by Jaina curling into a vicious fist as her whole body stiffened. She _hated_ admitting to feeling things like fear, uncertainty, loss, regret, or other such emotions. They were swords and daggers that could be turned against her at will, weaknesses that her enemies could exploit and use to their advantage. 

Were it not for how much she loved Jaina she never would have even said that much, but it was a testament to the trust and faith she had for the woman that had become her heart that she’d managed to admit to being afraid, because the truth of the matter was that Sylvanas wasn’t _simply_ afraid; she was downright terrified.

She could not bring herself to trust in the fact that things would continue going as they had. She had been wary ever since her proposed ceasefire had been accepted by the little lion and had continued being wary and suspicious ever since. Too much had happened in her long life for her to be able to believe that theirs would be a lasting peace, that things would turn out well, and that the happy ending that seemed to have been given to her on a silver platter was real. At this point she was far too accustomed to the other shoe dropping, because it always _had_ , and she was afraid that she couldn’t see what might be coming for her or even when.

Her life had been a series of crises and disasters coming one right on the heels of the other, if they didn’t all decide to pile on her at once, yet every time she had found the strength to pick herself back up and forge on ahead, for what else was there to do? She had always found a reason to carry on, a _something_ to cling to that gave her the strength to get up and soldier on.

Now that she had so much more to lose than before, it set her even more on edge that there wasn’t even an inkling of unrest to tarnish the picture. Known threats she could handle just fine. They were _known_ and she was used to them. She could plan for them, she could strategize and make predictions, she could make _contingencies_ for what she could see coming, and she could be fully prepared to meet them head on.

She couldn’t prepare for what she couldn’t see coming.

Jaina could easily trace the thoughts that were running through Sylvanas’ mind, seeing the threads connect and entwine to form the grim picture that had been tormenting her beloved and made her forget her surroundings with how bleak everything seemed in there. It made her heart break for her wife. 

“Oh, my darling.” She nosed at Sylvanas’ neck until she broke the Elf out of her renewed brooding. “I know that we’re both used to life imploding on our faces in one way or another and leaving us to pick up the pieces,” she pressed soft kisses on her wife’s jaw, punctuating her words with each one. “I know that we’ve both had our worlds turned upside down many times before, and that it’s not easy to believe that maybe this time will be the one where it has finally been enough.” 

“I know that we’ve both given more than we rightfully should have, that it’s frightening to think of what else might be asked of us next time that something happens. I know all that.” She turned fully in the embrace, her smile widening and her eyes softening as she brought her free hand to cup Sylvanas’ cheek and the Banshee Queen nuzzled into her palm automatically. “But whatever comes, whatever happens, you will not be handling it alone.” 

Her blue eyes locked with Sylvanas’ red and she willed her wife to hear the conviction in her voice, to believe in the words she was saying right then and the promise behind them. “I’ll be here with you. No matter how tall the next wave the Tides throw at us may be, no matter if the world itself turns against us, I’ll be with you, and we will face the future together.”

Without waiting for an answer, Jaina pulled her wife down into the sweetest, gentlest, and most heartbreakingly tender kiss she could muster, one of her hands going into Sylvanas’ hair to gently card through it, while the other traced the strong, proud line of her wife’s jaw in a light caress.

Sylvanas sighed into the kiss, savouring the sweet feeling of Jaina’s lips against her own. _This._ This was what she was most afraid of losing. More than anything, more than her people, who had long since been the one thing she had clung to desperately in order to justify her continued existence, more than her own life, more than _anything else_ in this world that had so often taken everything and more from her…this was what she was so very terrified of losing. 

Jaina had become someone precious to her while she wasn’t looking. The woman she had married out of obligation, in order to put an end to a pointless war that would yield nothing but destruction and misery to both sides, had ended up becoming someone she couldn’t imagine living without. Without her awareness or permission, Jaina had become integral to her happiness, somehow making a home for herself in her heart and ensconcing herself so deep within that there was no hope of being able to dislodge her from it without irreparable damage to Sylvanas’ own soul. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to love someone so, but she didn’t know how to stop. 

And, if she was honest with herself, she didn’t really want to. 

In need of air, Jaina broke the kiss and gently pressed her forehead against Sylvanas’ without opening her eyes. Her next words were a breathless whisper, as though it were a secret meant only for them. “You are my one, my chosen wife. By your side I will never fear any storm or ill weather. With you, I will walk hand-in-hand through life and overcome whatever hardships the Tides may choose to place before us. You are the wind in my sails, the rudder that gives my ship direction.” She took Sylvanas’ hands in her own and brought them up to her heart. “I bear the imprints of you on my skin like the badges of honour we grant champions when they return victorious from their campaigns. But more than that, I bear the marks of you in my soul, in the innermost part of me. You’ve burrowed so deep that I have no chance to ever be able to let you go. You are mine as I am yours, and there will never come a time in which I do not love you. This to you I swear, for as long as stars do shine.”

Sylvanas’ eyes _burned_. Jaina had just recited the vows she had made to her when they had first decided to make their marriage mean more than just a contract to unite the factions, when they had realized that they’d fallen in love with each other and had chosen for said marriage to mean something genuine to the both of them. 

Where the vows they had recited at their wedding had been the standard vows of the Church of the Light (a religion that _neither_ of them followed), the ones they had chosen to give each other were taken from their own respective beliefs but personalized for each other by the overwhelming feelings of love that they had both felt in the moment.

Swallowing back the sob that had gotten caught in her throat, Sylvanas took in a deep breath and gave her reply, just as she had that day. “You are a gift from the Goddess, the Sun of my life, and the one she chose to grant me warmth on the coldest of days. You are the swiftness in my movements, the unfailing arrow that always strikes true. I know that no matter how dark my days may be, I need never fear being lost, for you will always be the light to guide me on my journeys.” This time, she brought Jaina’s hands to rest over where her heart would have been attempting to break out of her chest if she had been alive. “With you I will never fear daggers in my back or need to check for enemies, for you will be there to shield me as I will shield you. In your arms I have found my home, where I know I will always be welcome. You have become my heart itself, and I could no more part with you than I could have ever lived without it. Your soul calls to mine as mine calls to yours, and for as long as I am capable of, I will always answer. This to you I swear, by the light of the Sun and with all of her blessings.”

And just as she had on that day, Sylvanas pulled Jaina as close to her as she possibly could and kissed her wife with all of the love she held within, pouring all of herself into that kiss and hoping that her feelings would be able to reach Jaina. 

The future was still uncertain and there were still many things to be afraid of. The worries she held would not be banished so easily, and she would likely become consumed in them all over again soon enough, because what she stood to lose was too precious for her to _not_ be afraid for it all. The stakes were sky-high, and who wouldn’t be uneasy when life had proven time and again that it would fall to pieces when she least expected it?

But for now, at least, her fears for what the future held had been tempered. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was not, and never would be, alone again. She’d just needed a reminder of it, and Jaina had done a wonderful job of it, as always.

That was enough for now. That was _everything._

**Author's Note:**

> I am not responsible for any of your dentist bills that may ensue as a result of this ending.


End file.
